Taking the “Mystery” Out of Argumentation: A Traditional Mystery-Powders Lesson is Modified to Emphasize Argumentation

Examining elementary science teachers' responses to assessments tasks designed to measure their content knowledge for teaching about matter and its interactions

“…In the context of professional development programs, Kruse et al (2020) documented that in‐service teachers are able to refine their initial ideas about matter‐related concepts into more accurate understandings but they face challenges representing or explaining matter‐related concepts in different ways. Other practitioner‐focused literature has highlighted lesson activities, instructional sequences, and materials that teachers can use to help students develop their understanding of matter concepts and specific phenomena (Jackson, 2009; Lee et al, 2014; Lott & Jensen, 2012; Lott & Wallin, 2012; Royce, 2012; Troncale, 2016; Vowell & Phillips, 2015; Weishaar, 2011), as well as specific formative assessment probes and activities that teachers can use to elicit students' thinking about matter (Eberle & Keeley, 2008; Keeley, 2016; Keeley et al, 2007; Palmeri et al, 2008). Overall, these studies suggest there has been limited focus on: (a) exploring the reasoning underlying teachers' instructional decisions about teaching matter or (b) in developing and using assessments that can be administered and scored efficiently for large scale use to measure the full range of professional knowledge that elementary science teachers use when planning for, enacting, and reflecting on their instruction in this high‐leverage content area.…”